Designing with Smart Textiles

This book is now in production with Fairchild/Bloomsbury, and it looks like the designers are doing an amazing job with it. It’s listed on Amazon – keep an eye on it in case the date comes forward.

This book will give you the inspiration, practical skills and confidence you need to develop your practice in smart textile development. It:

delivers first hand advice from leading researchers and practitioners in this hybrid field

provides practical skills for both designing with existing textiles, and developing your own smart textiles

discusses important conceptual frameworks for working with smart textiles

This large format book will provide textile, fashion, architecture, interaction and product design students as well as independent practitioners, with an overview of designing with smart textiles. It will be suitable for students at all levels from undergraduate to postgraduate as these skills are often required as part of a diverse interdisciplinary practice rather than focused on exclusively by an individual.

It lays out the key issues these materials bring with them and provides a framework for working through them. The sectors these materials are to be found in are described, and the fundamental definitions necessary to understanding the design process are clarified. Key decision points within the process are used to structure the book, helping students to accurately scope projects and to identify the resources needed to create successful outcomes. The approach is one in which no question is too dumb – working across disciplines is difficult. Conversely, the student is encouraged to reflect on and develop the confidence to communicate the value in their existing practice as they engage in collaboration.